The Starheld Compendium
by TSarr
Summary: A set of short stories following the characters from the Red Moon Collection series. Each story sets one of the characters as the protagonist to flesh out defining moments in their past, present or even future.
1. Down to the Thieves Below - Chapter 1

**The Starheld Compendium - Down to the Thieves Below**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Fayneer T'Lees – 2179**

 _ **Sapheer District, Omega**_

Fayneer T'Lees glanced up and down the street. It was unnervingly empty for Omega. The asari looked to her omnitool to check the time and, after eying the street once again, turned into an alley. Her fingers were curled, hovering between an open palm and balled fist, and each step she took a was prefaced by a sweep of her eye from left to right. To say she was being more cautious than normal would be an understatement. Fayneer reached the center of the alley where she stood beneath a dim light occasionally flickering in the death throes of old electrical work slowly failing. She planted one of her boots firmly on the ground and turned to look over her shoulder. She was still alone.

She waited in the darkness as the sound of the city droned distantly from all around her. It had been a long few weeks. The _Hyperion_ had been destroyed and both Welkinn and William Hume had been dead for many days now, providing her a lot of time to think. She had mourned for Welkinn, of course, but he had only been with them for a short time. William's death, however, had struck much deeper. He was a rarity as far as she was concerned: a good, respectable person. Perhaps a tad naive, but the truly good ones always were. But he had also had a strange tendency to inspire. While her original intent while serving aboard the _Hyperion_ was to lay low and provide a helping gun to those who had saved her from Narenthus Antarian's indentured servitude, Will's sometimes bizarre altruistic drive had been rather humbling.

And now he was dead.

She had mourned both him and Welkinn as any friend would, but now she had work to do. Shansa and Eleena would most likely continue what Will had started, but Fayneer had made her own choice. The small flame of altruism that William Hume had ignited in her was to be set aside. Someday when she had real resources she may return and fan that flame, but for now there was a small fortune waiting to be reclaimed. When she was thinking clearly she was a businesswoman, after all.

"Fayneer T'Lees?" A voice asked.

She snapped her head up to where the voice had called from. In a window above her she could see the outline of a humanoid and the reflection of weak light that shone from his two eyes. The voice was unmistakably drell.

"Yes," she replied quietly. "And you are?"

"Your contact," the drell answered as he leapt to the ground.

T'Lees stepped back as the drell landed with a thud and brought his jet-black eyes to bear on her.

"My name is Callon," the drell said.

He extended a gloved hand in offering. Fayneer reached out and took it as a show of goodwill and nodded in recognition.

"And you already know my name," she said.

Callon nodded and retracted his hand. "Let's see it."

Fayneer raised her brow. "See what?"

The drell smirked and crossed his arms. "You know what I'm talking about. The earnest payment. Let me see the funds."

"Ah, yes." She activated her omnitool. "As you can see, it is all here. The remainder I will provide after we finished our undertaking."

It was almost every credit she had to her name. The majority came from an old, less secure business account used by Narenthus Antarian, but there was also some from the modest wage she had received from serving on the _Hyperion._ Even a few pawned pieces of her own belongings had contributed to the final tally. Callon stepped forward and looked at the omnitool screen searching for anything out of place. Seeing nothing he glanced up to her.

"Normally we don't do anything risky without the whole payment upfront," he informed her.

"I assure you, this will be a lucrative-"

He held up a hand. "I'm not looking to be convinced. Not yet. We've looked up your name. You've got a record and history that shows you keep your word for the most part. Plus the double scale payment you're offering sweetens things up quite a bit."

She nodded. "So, are we doing business together?"

"Tentatively," the drell said with a cool smirk. "First you've gotta pitch this thing to my boss and the team."

"Gladly," she said while confidently raising her chin. "Where exactly-"

"Follow me," he interrupted. "They're waiting in a bar a few blocks down."

The drell pulled up the collar of his coat and turned to walk down the alley while Fayneer hurried to follow at his side as he strode along at a brisk pace. He glanced over and broke from his cool and collected attitude for the first time to give her an intrigued look.

"That's an… interesting weapon," he said.

It took T'Lees a moment to realize that he was referring to the harpoon gun on her back. It was still very foreign even to her.

"It belonged to a comrade of mine," she informed him. "He and another friend were killed recently."

"Hmm. Sorry to hear it. We lost one of our team a few months ago in a bad raid. Crazy how bad things can go wrong in just a split second," Callon said.

T'Lees nodded. "Yes. They were both… good companions. I hope they have both found peace."

They stepped out onto the street and turned toward the busy center of the district. The area was still fairly sparse, but seeing a few pedestrians walking around them helped put Fayneer back at ease. Callon seemed to be a reasonable fellow as well. She had found his team by looking through some of the RMC records that Tul'Sorrin had saved as a backup before the _Hyperion_ was destroyed. They had been approached to join the Collective when Kallux was just starting to ramp up recruitment, but had professionally declined the invitation. Whether it was due to monetary or philosophical disagreements, she was unsure. That said, the public list of services that Callon's team provided seemed to indicate that they were not opposed to taking an unethical approach to getting the job done.

"So you were part of some kind of team I take it?" Callon asked.

"Something like that," she replied.

"Why aren't they helping you out with this problem?"

Fayneer frowned to herself. The honest answer was that what she had planned was dangerous. Too dangerous for those she cared about. She feared that anyone associated with her may be in danger if the Thessian authorities tracked them down. The credits she was looking to recover were in relatively hidden accounts, but there was no guarantee that the commando team on her case had not discovered them. For all she knew accessing those accounts could lead to a handful of asari warships bearing down on her location within a few hours.

Instead, she gave Callon the partial truth.

"We were forced to go our separate ways," she replied. "I cannot say much more than that."

"Fair enough," the drell replied. "I'm not one to pry."

They walked for another minute or so without a word between them. Then, without any warning, Callon turned and stepped up a set of stairs in the front of a small landing. T'Lees walked up after him.

"Evening, Dol," the drell remarked.

A turian bouncer leaned against the wall beside the door. He nodded in acknowledgment to Callon and eyed Fayneer curiously as the asari and drell walked through the door. The interior of the bar was terribly dingy, as one might expect from this corner of Omega. Where most of the bars and clubs on the station used flashy light sequences and colors, this bar had only a few dim ceiling fixtures and the colored alcohol signs that lined the back of the bar. The music was a nondescript thumping that was just loud enough to obscure a conversation that might be happening at the table beside you. There were no more than a dozen patrons in the bar, three of which sat at a table near the far end of the room. They were sipping from drinks and laughing together. Fayneer felt her lips sink into a frown as she missed her friends. She took a deep breath and pushed the thought aside for the time being.

Callon lead Fayneer through the bar and came to a stop at the very table she had eyed upon entering. "Everyone, this is the client. Fayneer T'Lees."

The trio that made up the rest of Callon's team had been watching the asari since she and Callon had entered. They intrigued Fayneer immediately. At the center sat an incredibly large and muscular human. His hair was a brownish-yellow, cut close and proper on the top of his head while an enormous beard hung from his chin. A scar was slashed across his left cheek and nose, the latter having clearly suffered a small bit of structural damage in the attack. He was fully equipped in some of the heaviest yet antiquated-looking armor that she had ever seen. The stocks of a rifle and shotgun stuck up over either shoulder from the gun mount on his back.

To his left sat a turian female lounging quite comfortably in her chair with a drink in one hand and what looked like a small, metal cylinder twirling between her three fingers in the other. Her eyes were tightly narrowed on the newly arrived asari. Her markings were quite plain, with only a single blue stripe running from each eye up to the back of her face on either side. Her armor looked to have been customized to include additional gear mounts along her chest, upper arms and sides of her legs. On those mounts were quite a few small bundles of prepared explosives.

To the right was a batarian. Short, stocky, and narrowing all four eyes at the asari newcomer. His armor was covered in come kind of oil or grease, leaving Fayneer to believe he was the engineer of the group. Callon motioned toward a chair in front of T'Lees before sliding into the seat next to his turian companion. Fayneer pulled out the chair and placed herself in it with a confident and amicable expression on her features.

 _Nothing to worry about._ She thought to herself.

Fayneer brought her hands to rest on the table and laced her fingers gracefully. This was nothing she had not done a million times before. The four people across from her were investors, and she had a business venture to propose.

"Fayneer T'Lees," the man at the center said boldly.

Her omnitool translator had picked an interesting accent to correlate to the human's that she had not heard in quite some time. It was prominent in the northern Pelannoa region of Thessia and quite pleasing to hear.

"My name is Brandte Ramsay," he continued. "Most just call me Ram. I'm in charge of these knuckleheads."

She held back her amused smirk at the nickname.

"A pleasure," T'Lees replied with a diplomatic bow of her head.

"You have already met Callon, our infiltration expert."

The drell gave her a nod.

Ram held his hand toward the turian woman. "This Seelyn, our explosives and heavy ordnance expert." The hand moved to the batarian. "And, finally, Lognus. Likes to shoot guns and fix things. Not always in that order."

"I am pleased to meet you all," T'Lees said with a smile.

"Damn right you are," the batarian grumbled. "And there's no point wearing that eyepatch to try to look tough. Especially not with that Armali accent."

Fayneer chuckled softly and brought her hand up to her face. She rested her cheek on the palm as though patronizing him with a charmed smile before lifting a finger up to expose the brutal scar and vacant socket where her missing eye used to be.

"I do not wear it for show and I have no interest in impressing any of you," she said warmly before lowering the eyepatch back into place. "I am here with an offer. But if I happen to impress any of you by the time we part ways, I would not be upset."

"Callon filled us in on your proposal," the turian woman said as she leaned forward. "We don't do partial upfront payments," she hissed.

"Not unless you've got something really good in store for us," Ram added. "So, tell us. What is this job?"

T'Lees straightened herself in her chair. "Callon tells me you have already done a bit of research. Of course, I do not know the full extent of what you have uncovered."

"All we have from official records is that you're wanted by the Thessian government," Callon informed her. "But there are also plenty of rumors around the underground circle that you're a fair businesswoman. At least when it comes to illegal arms trading."

"Can't complain on that front," Ram chimed in.

"I would like to think that is an accurate representation of my character," T'Lees replied. "I was recently betrayed by a business partner and locked out of the majority of my assets. Hence my inability to pay the full sum of your normal rate upfront. Luckily for me, that monster is now dead."

The four mercenaries shifted in various degrees of interest. The human at the center watched and listened closely. He was hiding his judgment well.

"Go on," Ram said flatly.

"I know of three accounts that were held in joint between a few people within his organization, all under false identities of course. But they have been locked down." She sat back in her seat. "I am afraid I have no way access them legitimately without the possibility of legal intervention."

"So hack into the accounts," Seelyn said. "Done."

"Not that simple by the sounds of it," Callon corrected her. "Business accounts shared between multiple owners are handled differently by the galactic trade networks when they go into a security lock."

Fayneer sat quietly, impressed at the drell's insight, and waited for him to continue. Ram looked from the asari to Callon and nodded.

"Different how?"

"There are many different networks that run the galactic economy," Callon explained. "The big ones we deal with on a day to day basis are the SAN, or Standard Account Network, and the BSN, or the Broker Service Network. The latter handles almost every extranet-based credit transaction while the former is the master for the accounts that you or I might have access to."

"But there are other networks?" Lognus suggested.

"Exactly. Smaller and more specialized," Callon affirmed. "One of those networks is used to store accounts that require investigation or supervision. There are millions or billions of accounts flowing in or out of this network's governance at any given time. Access to this network is… not easily attained. The closest someone could get without being an employee of the galactic trade network is probably the network server in a trade center."

Fayneer eyed the drellin fascination. She had only met a handful of his species in her centuries, but this one had already put the others to shame.

"You are _very_ well versed in the inner workings of galactic trade," she complimented.

Callon smirked in satisfaction. "I learned a lot from my hanar proprietors when I served the Compact. The two I worked for the most were business owners much like you."

Fayneer gave him a coy smile. "Then I chose well when I contacted you."

"So what exactly is the damned job?" Seelyn asked. "I didn't ask for an econ lesson."

"I know what the job is," Ram asserted. "She wants access to that server."

T'Lees shifted her eyes back to the human. "Excellent deduction."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Lognus asked.

Callon chuckled. "You walk up to the server's interface." He looked around the table. "Guys, she wants us for a heist."

"A heist on one of the trade network offices?" Seelyn thought aloud. "Doesn't seem too tough."

"You might think so, but you'd be wrong," Ram corrected her. "I believe the trade offices on Omega have a contract with the Blue Suns for security. The Blue Suns don't half-ass their contracts with legitimate business ventures."

"As I said, all I want is access to the office's central server node," T'Lees informed them. "This does not have to be dangerous."

"If the Blue Suns are involved then I don't see how it's going to be _easy_ ," Seelyn said as she narrowed her eyes. "Now why the hell should we even be considering this? Especially when you're not even fronting the full payment."

"Because," Fayneer paused and swept her eye around the table. "I am prepared to offer you all double your normal rate as compensation after we have secured the funds."

"Double?" Lognus laughed. "We've done double scale jobs that were way simpler than this _and_ they paid fifty percent upfront."

The asari sat up further in her seat. "I… was unaware. Callon seemed to indicate that this rate would be sufficient for-"

"Double won't cover it," the drell said flatly.

Fayneer's eye snapped to Callon. _Damn him._

He had played her at her own game. Callon had pretended to be agreeable on the payment so she would be caught off guard when the negotiations came around. She narrowed her eye in gleeful acceptance of the challenge.

"Then I can do double and a half," she countered immediately.

"No good," Ram replied. "This is a big operation you're pitching here. I want a percentage cut."

"A percentage?" T'Lees chuckled and crossed her arms. "Absolutely not."

"And what exactly is so fucking funny about that?" Lognus asked. "We're helpin' you steal a huge chunk of credits. We deserve a cut from it if we're going to be carrying the weight."

Fayneer raised a hand. "First of all, you will not be carrying all the weight. I intend to be with and fighting alongside you for this entire operation."

"Oh, and I'm sure you'll make our jobs easier," Seelyn remarked sarcastically.

The asari turned her gaze to the turian woman. As tough as the turian acted, even she seemed a tad intimidated by Fayneer's burning eye.

"As a matter of fact, I am incredibly proficient in my biotics and _more_ than capable with a rifle or shotgun." she snapped. "I may be a businesswoman first, but that does not mean I cannot rip the life out of someone who is threatening mine."

Ram cleared his throat. "We're not arguing your involvement. We're talking about payment. I want fifteen percent for my crew with a minimum of five times our normal rate." He smirked. "Just in case this account isn't as full as you think it is."

"Not one account. Three of them" she reminded him. "And I know exactly how many credits are in them. I saw the balances just days before they were put into lockdown." Fayneer lifted her chin once again. "I will give you five percent up to a maximum of five times your normal rate."

"Ten percent up to seven," Ram followed up.

Ten percent was not insignificant. But, these accounts held far more than the single one she had managed to access thus far. If they were to retrieve the entirety of the funds located in all three remaining accounts, the payment would most certainly reach the cap of seven times their pay rate long before it reached ten percent of the total haul. She smiled and looked around the table.

"Ten percent up to seven times your pay rate," she repeated. "I suppose that is fair enough."

The mercenaries shared a few quick, excited glances. Double pay scale may not have been the incentive Fayneer was expecting, but septuple? They would be fighting tooth and nail to finish this job when push came to shove.

"Then it's a deal," Ram said, extending his hand.

Fayneer took the mercenary captain's extended hand and shook firmly. "I will prepare the upfront payment, but let us plan to meet in eight hours for a logistical sync. We have quite a bit of planning to do, my friends."


	2. Down to the Thieves Below - Chapter 2

**The Starheld Compendium - Down to the Thieves Below**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Fayneer T'Lees – 2179**

 _ **Omega**_

"Are you certain this will work?" T'Lees whispered.

Ram looked down to check the clock on his omnitool. "You had plenty of time to bring up your concerns while we were planning this," he pointed out.

"Everything made perfect sense at the time," she muttered, thinking back to the evening before. "How in the world did I agree to _this_ of all plans?"

"That's what we humans call 'peer pressure,'" Ram said with a hearty grin. "Seelyn, are you ready?"

" _Lognus and I are ready and waiting, boss,"_ the turian radioed.

"Then we're just waiting on you, Callon," Ram said.

" _I'm well aware,"_ the drell replied. " _Now are you going to let me finish this work or are you going to keep asking me if I'm done every fifteen seconds?"_

Ram snorted in amusement and glanced over to T'Lees. She was fiddling with the scope of her newly acquired harpoon rifle, attempting to get it in focus for the inevitable action. They were perched on a rooftop down the street from the front entrance of the trade center, tasked with keeping the coast clear for the rest of the team. From their prone position they had perfect coverage of the front and side of the building that housed the small trade center. Ram watched as the asari continued to make minute adjustments that only served to irritate her more and more as she failed to find exactly what she wanted. Finally, he reached over and tapped on the scope.

"Mm?" He grunted. "May I?"

T'Lees let out an annoyed sigh and relinquished the rifle. "I was getting close."

Ram readied the weapon and looked down the scope. "I'm sure you were."

Somehow he didn't sound condescending. He reached up and made a few tiny turns of the nobs on the scope. Then he repeated the motion again. And again. After the fourth attempt he grumbled and shook his head.

"This thing is a bitch to adjust," he admitted. "You should get a goddamn modern, digital scope fitted on this thing."

"I have not had the time, but it is something I wish to do sooner rather than later," T'Lees replied.

Ram's fingers tickled one of the scope's adjustment knobs. "Ah hah! Perfect."

He slid the harpoon rifle back over to her. She accepted it with a thankful nod and brought it back into position to look down the scope at the location they were supposed to be keeping an eye on.

"I have never been much of a riflewoman," she said sheepishly. "Biotics and shotguns are my areas of prowess."

"You picked that thing up from a friend?" Ram asked.

"Correct," T'Lees answered. "My personal firearm was destroyed at the same time he was killed. I reasoned that carrying along this weapon would be fitting way to honor him."

"As long as you can shoot it," he said bluntly.

" _Okay_ _, I think we're ready,"_ Callon reported.

T'Lees and Ram focused in on the building with their weapons in position. Though they were barely visible, they had vision of the alleyway where Seelyn and Lognus had been patiently waiting. On the the roof of the building, three stories up, they could see the shadowy movement of their drell companion as he darted into position.

"Ready check," Ram announced.

T'Lees tapped a button on her omnitool to change her status on their HUDs over to "Ready." The others quickly blinked green to match her status until all five of them were indicating that they were ready to proceed.

"That's green across the board," Ram announced in his curious accent. "Starting the countdown."

A timer appeared in the top-left corner of Fayneer's HUD counting down from ten seconds. She took a deep breath and stretched her fingers before wrapping them around the grip of her rifle and bracing to wait for zero.

 _Five._

 _Four._

 _Three._

 _Two._

She held her breath.

 _One._

An explosion rocked the alleyway where Seelyn had placed her ordinance. The block shook from the shockwave as smoke and dust billowed up and out into the street.

" _Hahaha! That was good one!"_ Seelyn shouted, clearly pleased of her handiwork.

" _Come on, Claws, we're moving in!"_ Lognus ordered.

" _On you, big guy,"_ she replied.

Their waypoint indicators began moving toward the epicenter of the recent explosion. If it were not for the smoke, T'Lees and Ram could have watched as they jumped through the newly-created hole in the wall of the trade center. The other squad position indicator, Callon's, had sunk down through a grate on the roof of the building.

"Any way we can verify your network jam is working?" Ram asked.

" _It's working,"_ Callon said very matter-of-factly. " _Believe me. It is working."_

"It is difficult to argue with that kind of confidence," T'Lees commended.

" _Easy to be confident when you know you set up the routing and jamming perfectly,"_ Callon said cockily. " _I'm in the vents by the way. Lognus, Claws, how you two doing down there?"_

" _Just fine,"_ Seelyn replied. " _Seeing if we can snag any loose credit chits before the kiddies show up."_

Ram chimed in like a patient father. "Stay focused, everyone. Security is sure to arrive any second now."

" _Don't shoot them right away,"_ Lognus reminded them.

"Yes, yes, the longer they focus on you two the better the distraction will be in the long run," T'Lees recalled.

" _Right_ _. But I also want to get a chance to shoot them myself,"_ the batarian added.

"Kodiak!" Ram shouted.

Fayneer's eye darted up to see a shuttle come sweeping down from one of the skycar lanes above the surface of the city. It was emblazoned with the familiar blue and white colors of the Blue Suns.

"And just as we suspected, we can confirm Blue Suns have the security contract!" T'Lees reported.

" _Great,"_ Seelyn muttered. " _And here I was hoping this one was cheap and gone for one of the shitty security firms."_

Ram let out a grunt of concern. "If things get hairy-"

" _We'll be fine,"_ Lognus interrupted. " _Just keep your guns ready for when we feel like sharing."_

The Kodiak landed hard in the street as the side hatch flew open. Ten figures in Blue Suns colors came rushing out to take cover behind various skycars, poles and crates in the street. One of them, clearly female and most likely human, took up a commanding pose and began pointing and shouting orders to the others. The squad split into two groups of five with half of them moving toward the hole that Seelyn had blown in the wall and the others following the Blue Suns officer toward the front entrance. As the distraction unfolded, Callon had made his way down to what T'Lees guessed was the second floor of the building. The drell's indicator was moving quickly now that he had most likely exited the ventilation shafts. They had received no updates from him, however, leaving T'Lees to believe he was still in search of the hard-line connection that would connect him to the account network they needed.

"They're about to come inside," Ram warned. "Be alert."

" _Always,"_ Seelyn replied.

* * *

" _They're about to come inside. Be alert."_

"Always," Seelyn said.

She and Lognus had taken up position in a kiosk at the center of the trade center's main floor. The turian held her rifle's sights on the hole they had blown in the wall while the batarian watched the front door. Her heart raced in anticipation as the shadows of the Blue Suns security team flickered on the alley wall through the hole.

"Come on, come on, come on," she muttered rapidly under her breath.

Seelyn's eyes widened as the first Blue Suns soldier appeared and bounded through the opening with his gun spraying bullets down on her position. Her left hand broke from the side of her rifle to grab a cylindrical object on the counter beside her. With a quick flip of one finger the lid opened to reveal a small red button. She waited. A second Blue Suns soldier dove through the opening, then another. Gunfire peppered the kiosk around Seelyn, forcing her to jump behind the cover of a large pillar to protect herself.

"All fighting and no talking?" Seelyn shouted in mock-disappointment. "Fine!"

Just as they began to fan out for cover her finger slammed down on the detonator in her grasp. An explosion ripped through the badly damaged wall sending the three Blue Suns troopers flying through the air. Seelyn jumped out from behind the pillar and sprayed gunfire at the only one still moving causing a Blue Suns engineer standing in the alley to back off and dive for cover. Quite suddenly her shields wavered and dropped from a hit on her right side. Seelyn snapped her eyes to the side to see that the front door had been breached, allowing half a dozen Blue Suns troops to come filing through and into cover inside the building.

"Damn it, Lognus! Control your sector!"

The batarian was too busy unloading gunfire toward the Blue Suns to answer right away, but after priming and throwing a grenade he ducked down to allow his heat sink to cool and growled.

"Next time bring enough explosives for both points of entry!" He snarled.

He rose back up to stand at her side as they suppressed their enemy, but it did not take long for the Blue Suns to realize they had the numerical advantage. The Blue Suns soldiers popped up one by one and began hosing the kiosk in effective bursts. Seelyn and Lognus managed to drop one of their riflemen before they were forced back into safety.

"We could use that sniper support now!" Lognus called into his headset.

" _That didn't take long,"_ Ram teased.

* * *

" _We could use that sniper support now!"_

T'Lees sighed in relief as the words she had anticipated finally came through her headset. She had been holding a shot on the Blue Suns commander for nearly fifteen seconds now. The enemy officer was standing just outside the front doors of the trade center barking orders at her subordinates, and Fayneer was hoping that a well placed but non-lethal shot would prompt her to call a retreat.

"That didn't take long," Ram said, stifling a laugh. "T'Lees, take the shot."

Fayneer drew in and held her breath before pulling the trigger. The rifle kicked back violently into her shoulder as the harpoon shot forth and struck the Blue Suns commander square in the shoulder: right on target. She could hear the commander roar in pain as she was thrown to the ground. Red blood poured from her wound. Human, T'Lees noted to herself.

"Nice hit," Ram commented as he readied his rifle.

"Hold your fire," T'Lees ordered.

Ram gave her a sideways glance. "Excuse me?"

"Hold your fire," T'Lees repeated firmly.

He did not dissent again. T'Lees fired another harpoon at a target standing just inside the doorway, punching clean through his leg armor and penetrating his calf. She loaded another bolt, but held her fire as they watched the Blue Suns commander clutch her bleeding wound and shout for the others to fall back. T'Lees grinned and looked over to Ram with a cocked brow.

"The Blue Suns are not as tough as they like to think they are," she cooed. "They will cower, call for backup, and by then we will be long gone."

"Hmm. We'll see," Ram said. "Callon, what's the situation?"

" _I'm almost into the accounts,"_ he promptly replied. " _Give me a few more seconds."_

" _If you're almost done then we should get the hell out of here,"_ Lognus declared. " _Claws, you ready to go?"_

" _Yes, sir!_ _On you,"_ Seelyn answered.

T'Lees slowly lifted her finger off her trigger as the last of the Blue Suns stumbled out of the alleyway to take up positions behind their Kodiak. The commander appeared to be arguing furiously into her comm, most likely calling for additional troops. The two squad indicators for Seelyn and Lognus began to move toward the back of the building.

" _How's our exit look?"_ Lognus asked.

"We didn't see anyone head toward the back of the building, but we also have no visual on the next street. You're looking good, but stay on alert," Ram replied.

" _Got it."_

"Callon? Anything?" Ram asked.

" _Yes, yes, sorry. I'm in and sorting through it all now. I've located your accounts, T'Lees."_

T'Lees smiled enthusiastically. "Goddess, you are a _wonderful_ man, Callon!"

" _Don't get excited just yet,"_ the drell said.

" _Fuck! I was just thinking that this heist was going way too smoothly,"_ Seelyn lamented.

" _All I said was to not get excited!"_ Callon reminded her. " _Okay, I'm wrapping up here. Is the rooftop still clear?"_

"Affirmative," Ram replied.

" _Then I'm moving to exfil now."_

"Lognus, what is your status?"

" _We're out the back door and headed to Seelyn's skycar,"_ the batarian replied.

"Excellent." Ram collapsed his rifle. "I want everyone at the safe house in thirty minutes."

" _We need to circle through the mining tunnels a few times in case someone tries to pursue,"_ Lognus argued.

"Fine, make it an hour," Ram conceded. "Callon?"

T'Lees moved her sights to the roof where the dark figure of the hooded drell was already bounding from point to point of cover.

" _I'm out. Safe house in one hour."_ He affirmed.

Ram glanced over to T'Lees. "That would be our cue to leave as well."

She nodded and secured her rifle onto its holding point on her back as the two of them crawled back from the edge of their perch to ensure they would be out of sight from the street. They quickly and quietly made their way to the ladder that would take them down to the street where Ram put on an inconspicuous saunter and headed toward the lot where they had stored their skycar a few blocks away.

"Fine work up there," he complimented.

"Thank you," Fayneer replied. "But what do you think Callon meant by 'do not get excited just yet?'"

Ram waved a hand dismissively. "Never know with him. Could be upset that he tripped a security firewall and it took him an extra fifteen seconds to hack through it."

"Mm." She looked ahead. "I suppose we will find out in an hour."

"I suppose you're right."

* * *

Ram and T'Lees decided to take a detour through one of the markets before returning to the safe house just in case they had been spotted and followed leaving the scene. After seeing no indication that they were being tailed, and having spent nearly a full hour pushing through the densely populated market, the two of them returned to Ram's skycar and were whisked away toward a seeder part of the town. The group's safe house was a rather dingy office located near the back of an abandoned warehouse in one of the old eezo mining sectors of the station. It was small, barely big enough for a team of five to fit comfortably with all their gear, but the locks on the door were quite strong and cleverly hidden. Ram and T'Lees stepped inside to see Seelyn and Lognus had already arrived and were busy arguing over how the batarian had failed to secure his point of entry during the firefight. Ram quickly broke the argument up only to replace it with an anxious silence. Finally, a little over ten minutes past their established meeting time, a drell slid through the door.

"About time," Lognus remarked.

T'Lees frowned immediately upon seeing the drell's face. A look of disappointment and irritation hung on his green and red scaled features before he spoke a single word.

"Sorry," he muttered. "The Blue Suns intercepted me a few blocks away from the trade center. I ran, they chased, I escaped."

"You could have called us for help," T'Lees said with a sympathetic frown.

Callon shook his head. "Then there would have been a gunfight and things would have gotten messy. No, I knew I could get away just fine."

"He always does," Ram admitted. "So, what's the situation? Are we rich beyond all comprehension?"

The drell walked to a nearby crate and jumped up to sit on top with his legs hanging off the side. "That's what you'd like me to say, isn't it?"

"Oh for fuck's sake," Lognus growled.

"Callon," T'Lees began. "Please, what is the problem?"

He looked down and shook his head. "There was nothing, T'Lees. All three accounts were completely empty."

The asari's eye widened. "What? That is impossible!"

"Not impossible," Callon corrected her. "It is in fact _reality._ The accounts were emptied by a 'G. Edsonn' ages ago."

"Edsonn?" T'Lees asked.

The drell nodded in affirmation.

"So what is our takeaway here?" Seelyn hissed at T'Lees. "That we just got fucked out of our payment? That we just did that whole operation for scraps?"

"Settle down, Claws." Ram ordered. "T'Lees, you know the name?"

Fayneer snarled. "Yes. A disgusting man and one of my fellow lieutenants. He was one of the few who knew of these accounts, but it seems he took the chance in accessing them before I did."

"Long before," Callon chimed in.

"So that's it then?" Lognus asked. "We walk away with nothing?"

"No! No." T'Lees quickly assured them. "I know Edsonn. I know how to find him." She looked around the group. "I get bring him to us and we can get what we need out of him."

"'Get what we need out of him?'" Ram repeated. "What are you suggesting?"

"Hopefully Callon can work his magic," T'Lees answered.

Callon leaned forward and raised a brow. "And if I can't?"

T'Lees swept her eye around the group. "Then the situation could get messy. And I will handle it."


	3. Down to the Thieves Below - Chapter 3

**The Starheld Compendium - Down to the Thieves Below**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Fayneer T'Lees – 2179**

 _ **Nos Astra, Illium**_

"Ah, Illium," T'Lees said with a smile. "Never a place have I both loved and hated so passionately."

"Annoys the shit out of me," Seelyn remarked. "Too much power in the hands of the wealthy. Keeps the little guy from making something of herself."

"Unless you make something of yourself by working for the wealthy," Ram noted with a grin.

Ram, Seelyn, Longus, Callon and T'Lees strode out of the spaceport and into the ever-busy streets of Illium. Their gear would be arriving on a cargo vessel in a few hours as the group had agreed that shipping their equipment separately would help to diffuse any suspicion security might show. Until then, T'Lees was still waiting on the final bit of information she needed from Edsonn. The human had not changed any of his contact information since their days working for Narenthus Antarian, and had eagerly responded to her message asking if he was doing well.

" _Q_ _uite_ _well,"_ he had replied. " _Miss seeing your pretty little face, that's for damn sure."_

" _We shall see if you feel the same way now that it has one less eye than you might recall,"_ she had answered. " _How has business been treating you?"_

It took only a few back and forth messages before she had convinced him that they might be able to collaborate on a business venture. He had almost too eagerly suggested that they meet on Illium to bounce ideas off one another. The next day, T'Lees and the rest of the merc team were on a civilian transport bound for Nos Astra.

"So we still don't know where we're meeting this guy?" Lognus asked.

"That is correct," T'Lees said as she scanned the pavilion for a taxi terminal. "Come, we should find our motel while we wait for our equipment to arrive."

She spotted the taxi landing zone and beckoned the others to follow as she made her way to the kiosk.

"And a nice bar afterward," Ram declared.

"If you want to pay out your ass for a drink, sure," Lognus scowled.

"Oh, hush," T'Lees interjected. "A round for everyone on my chit. I owe it to you all for accompanying me all the way out here to Illium."

"As long as it pays off," Callon said.

T'Lees looked over the drell out of the corner of her eye. He had been unusually quiet for the past day or so, to the point where she was beginning to suspect something may be awry in his mind. She made a note to investigate further as a taxi zoomed out of the sky to land before them.

"I am certain it will," T'Lees assured him after a short pause.

Together they climbed into the skycar and were whisked away into the vibrant Illium night.

* * *

It took only a few minutes for the five of them to check into their accommodations. The merc team, four in all, were staying in a single room where they would have to scour for as many surfaces as possible to sleep on, while T'Lees had elected to pay for her own room. She even offered her second bed to one or more of the others, but they flatly declined. Perhaps she was not as friendly with them as she had thought. After sorting out their temporary living arrangements the group hailed a taxi and were back off into the flurry of skycars darting through the city.

"So where are we going?" Ram asked from the passenger's side seat.

T'Lees lounged comfortably in the driver's side with a cool smile on her face. "A marvelous club that I go out of my way to visit at least once each time I visit Illium," she replied. "I hope you all do not mind exotic dancing."

"Are you taking us to a… _gentleman's club?_ " Seelyn asked.

T'Lees chuckled. "Oh, Goddess, no. It is just an ordinary dance club." She gave them a grin. "But it is difficult to tame the beast of dance once it begins to run amok, and something about the music and atmosphere in this place unleashes an intoxicating urge to dance as though one's life depended on it."

"Maybe it _is_ an intoxicating urge," Ram jested. "How strong are their drinks?"

"Hmm." T'Lees looked to the side. "Now that you mention it…"

Seelyn laughed. "Alright, alright. I'm sold. As long as they have some good turian brews."

"The finest," T'Lees promised. "Or not, depending on your taste."

The taxi made a small jump as its course changed to lead it out of the sky lane and toward the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper. They could see clearly on their approach that both the roof and top floor of the building was a singular venue, both lit by blue and teal phasing lights throughout. The skycar came to a stop over the wide balcony hanging off the side of the top floor that served as the arrival zone for vehicles. It lowered to the ground where the hatch opened to a well-dressed turian valet holding out a hand in offering. T'Lees took the hand and nodded graciously as she stepped out of the vehicle. The others brushed the valet off and scrambled out to follow the asari toward the main doors.

"This isn't a… _fancy dress_ kind of place, is it?" Ram asked as he caught up. "A penthouse club seems like a _fancy dress_ kind of place."

T'Lees smiled. "Penthouse clubs are sand on the beach here in Nos Astra. And this one is not picky about the dress of their patrons."

Ram, Seelyn, Lognus and Callon looked up to the glowing sign above the door.

 _Impuse_

"Has there _ever_ been a club or bar with multiple words in the name?" Seelyn asked.

"Of course!" Ram answered heartily. "Old Europe is full of them."

"And where is _that,_ exactly?" Seelyn said with a roll of her eyes.

Ram looked over to the turian and grinned. "Earth. I'll take you there sometime. In fact, I'll take everyone! You all need to experience a night of drinking in my old home."

"If there are drinks, then fine," Lognus accepted.

T'Lees came to a stop in front of the bouncer and held out her omnitool. The turian guard held out his holopad for a moment before nodding her along and waving up the next in line. The merc team cleared without incident and met T'Lees as she stood in front of the large set of double-doors that served as the entrance.

"Stick close," she advised. "I am heading straight to the bar and it will be _packed,_ I assure you. _"_

She pushed open the vintage-style manual doors to unleash an avalanche of music and shouts from the exuberant crowd. A short hallway led from the doors into the main room of the club where the music blared across the dance floor that spread throughout the center of the room. The club was dark and lit only by the blue lights they had seen on their flight in, but the truly spectacular feature was the floor-to-ceiling windows that covered the outer walls of the room. Light from the Nos Astra skyline poured over the patrons as their music blasted back out in response. T'Lees quickly skirted around the mass of people on the central dance floor and led the group to one of the bars tucked into the corners of the room. She paused and waved for them to follow as she passed the bar.

The group darted and parted their way through the crowd until T'Lees reached a mechanical door on the far side of the room that slid open to reveal another room about half the size of the main chamber. This area was clearly the lounge of the club, as the music was significantly quieter and the floor was covered with dozens of stylish tables and chairs for those in need of a break from dancing or who simply wanted to enjoy the city view in relative peace. Two asari bartenders worked behind a bar that lined the wall of one side of the room as they prepared drinks for the dozen or so waiting patrons. T'Lees led the group to a table near the corner of the room that was flanked on two sides by tall windows and beautiful view of the skyline.

"Have a seat," she said as she stood to the side. "Drinks?"

"A dark lager," Ram said as he dropped down into one of the chairs.

"Whiskey, neat," Seelyn requested. "A nice Shurantia, if they've got it."

Lognus nodded toward Ram. "Whatever he's getting."

T'Lees turned her eye toward Callon as the drell sank into his seat. "Callon?"

He held up his hand. "Water. I don't drink."

She nodded once and made her way to the bar as the others attempted to make themselves comfortable and take in their surroundings.

"Seems like a nice place," Ram said with his voice raised just enough to break through the music.

"I don't know what she was talking about when she said this place isn't fancy," Lognus grumbled. "Fancier than any damn bar on Omega."

"Maybe just the ones that you've been to," Callon corrected him. "There are plenty of… 'upscale' venues on Omega."

The batarian grunted. "Still don't like it."

"Well look at the bright side," Seelyn said with her eyes narrowed coolly. "You're probably less likely to be stabbed or shot in here than our usual places on Omega."

They looked up as T'Lees approached with a full tray of drinks. She plucked each one deftly and placed it before its respective owner before taking the final glass, her springwine, and placing it by the empty seat at the table. She set the tray to the side and slid into her seat with a warm smile.

"Nice balancing," Ram complimented.

T'Lees chuckled. "I spent a handful years tending bar during my time as a university student. It seems my balancing skills remain intact."

"Where was that?" Seelyn asked.

"University of Tesalaes," she replied. "In the Armali Province on Thessia."

Lognus chuckled. "Armali? Must've made good money there."

"I certainly did," she replied. "Though I did not need it. I simply _adored_ spending time with the people."

"A bunch of drunk university students? Sounds like a good time to me," Seelyn laughed.

T'Lees smiled and took a sip of her wine. She looked around the table to see most of the others had already indulged in their respective drinks. Callon, however, was staring out the window with a rather lost expression on his face.

" _Damn_ , this is good whiskey," Seelyn said. "Nice choice, Blue."

The asari blinked and turned her attention to the turian. "I am glad you approve. The bar has quite a selection, if you care to sample a few more."

"I might just do that," she said before taking another sip.

Ram let out a happy sigh as he took another gulp of his beer. "Ahh, wonderful. Earth import?"

T'Lees nodded once. "You have quite the knowledgeable tongue."

"No one does a dark lager like Earth, no matter what some of the colonies tell themselves," he laughed. "Log, how you like it?"

The batarian nodded. He seemed both satisfied and happy for the first time since T'Lees had met him.

"Quite good," he expressed earnestly.

"Consider this a thanks for your hard work thus far," T'Lees said as she looked around the table. "I feel that I was extremely lucky in finding you all for this mission." She raised her glass. "Here is to a successful heist and good luck in the coming days."

The others lifted their glasses and replied with a chorus of here heres. Callon even noticed the commotion in time to turn his attention back to the group and lift his glass of water.

"Keep up the free drinks and I'll be there whenever you need a gun," Seelyn said.

"What about the abnormally large paycheck?" Ram asked.

The turian leaned back in her chair. "Well... that is definitely doesn't hurt."

T'Lees chuckled and looked over to Callon as the drell downed a few sips from his glass. "Are you feeling well, Callon? You seem… distant."

The others turned their attention to the drell. He narrowed his brow defensively and looked around the table as he set down his glass.

"I'm fine. Just tired."

"Eh, let him brood," Lognus decided.

Ram cleared his throat. "So when are you expecting the information from Edsonn?"

T'Lees took a sip from her glass and sighed. "I was _expecting_ it an hour ago. Though he always had a tendency for tardiness."

"Whatever, more time to drink," Seelyn mused.

"Let's not get too crazy," Ram said firmly. "We have to accommodate Edsonn's meeting demands, remember? And I'd rather not head into this mission drunk or hungover."

"Then maybe you should learn to hold your liquor," Lognus said through a grin of needle-like teeth.

Ram gave the batarian a stern look. "I mean it, Log."

"We're just fuckin' with you, Ram," Seelyn laughed.

T'Lees smiled to herself and glanced back to Callon. The drell had taken to his omnitool and was tapping away in search of something. She tilted her head curiously and leaned toward the drell with a wandering eye.

"What are you up to, hm?"

"Nothing important. Just doing a bit of security research," he answered. "The tech on Illium changes faster than anywhere else in the galaxy as far as I've seen."

"I would agree with that," T'Lees replied.

She watched him as he focused on his omnitool and typed away. T'Lees narrowed her eye curiously and lowered her voice as Seelyn, Ram and Lognus continued to talk among themselves.

"Callon."

He turned his eyes toward her. "What?"

"You do not seem tired in the slightest," she said softly. "What is troubling you?"

The drell shook his head. "I'd rather not talk… here." He motioned toward the others.

T'Lees stood from her seat, wine glass in hand. "Callon and I going to head up to the roof for a moment for some air," she declared.

Ram raised a brow. "Some 'air,' huh?"

"That is correct," she replied. "Callon?"

The drell hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and standing with her. "Yeah, we'll be right back down," he assured them.

Seelyn snorted and took a sip of her drink. "Go on, sneak off and do what you gotta do. We won't tell anybody."

Lognus looked between Callon and T'Lees in utter confusion. "You know something I don't, Claws?"

"Hah! Na, I'm just fuckin' with them," the turian replied.

T'Lees rolled her eye and motioned for Callon to follow as she gracefully stepped through the maze of chairs and tables to lead them toward a door on the far side of the room. She glanced back once or twice to be sure that Callon was following her before reaching the door and stepping through into a small stairwell. A spiral staircase led them up one floor to the exit door and onto the roof where the same loud music that was blaring below filled the air. She took a deep breath of the night air that flowed through the rooftop level and walked toward the nearest railing. T'Lees leaned against it casually and took another sip of her wine as Callon arrived and crossed his arms to lean his lower back against the metal bar at the top of the railing.

"Bit louder up here," he commented.

"It _is_ one of the dance floors," she reminded him in a raised voice. "Now, what is it you did not want to say downstairs?"

The drell turned his head to meet her eye. "T'Lees, I think we're walking head-first into a trap. Think about it, this guy you worked with? Edsonn? You've already told us that you didn't particularly like each other, and that he had no reason to trust you, only that you somehow knew he would agree to a meeting. And we're supposed to be waiting to hear from _him_ when and where we're going to meet?" He shook his head. "This doesn't feel right a damn bit."

T'Lees looked down to her glass and swirled the liquid around gently. "Callon…" She shook her head. "You are probably right. This has been at the forefront of my mind as well the past few days."

"So you're _fine_ just walking into this potentially dangerous situation?" Callon asked with a rather accusatory tone. "Better yet, walking _us_ in there with you?"

"Please, Callon, do not insult me by insinuating that I have no regard for your lives," T'Lees snapped. "I have already spoken to Ram about my concerns. He agrees that if we act with caution and object to any truly absurd requests from Edsonn then we will be fine. He and I have full and utter confidence in the capabilities of our team."

"'Our team,'" Callon repeated with a smirk. "Didn't realize you were one of us."

She frowned. "I meant the team that consists of me and your band combined. I… I did not mean to-"

"Relax," he interrupted. "Quite frankly, you'd fit better than most if you ran with us. Your sniping was on point, and those biotics you busted out when you were sparring with Claws on the transport were pretty fierce. But if this mission turns out the way you expect it to, I doubt you'll need to be doing this shit for the scraps we get by on."

T'Lees smiled softly. "Those biotics I used on Seelyn were a shadow of their full potential. Either way, your words are kind, Callon." She took a small sip of her drink. "Shall we return to the others? And will you at least join in the conversation this time? I hope that your brooding and troubled worrying has been put to bed."

"Yeah, yeah," he remarked with a smirk.

Before they could step away from the railing a chime rang out from the omnitool bracelet that T'Lees wore on her wrist. Callon heard the noise and turned around to see her activate the tool and read through a newly received message. After about ten seconds she looked up to the drell and took a deep breath.

"It is the message from Edsonn," she informed him.

Callon took a step closer toward her. "And?"

"Thirteen hours and thirty-four minutes from now," T'Lees said. "The Myria Hotel in Illium's Northern Ward."

"A hotel?" He asked.

She nodded and looked back down to the omnitool. "Yes, he says the hotel bar should be quiet and safe enough for us to talk, and that the hotel is quite nice in case we need to retire to a stateroom." She rolled her eye and let out a disgusted noise. "He says nothing more."

"Seems… reasonable," Callon said. "Surprisingly so. What do you think?"

T'Lees closed the omnitool and downed the last few sips of her wine in one big gulp before responding.

"I believe this means we are set to move forward," she replied. "Let us return to the others and relay the message, we will need to leave and prepare ourselves. After, perhaps, one more round."

* * *

T'Lees stared through the forward viewport of her skycar in a trance-like fixation. Since receiving the message from Edsonn giving them a time and place for their meeting she and the rest of the team had spent almost the entirety of their waking hours preparing. They had scouted out the hotel and even found some blueprints on the public record, all of which would lend itself useful in the case of an escape.

The others were already at The Myria Hotel, hopefully ready and in their carefully selected positions throughout the hotel bar and lobby. No one had given the signal to abort, so she could safely assume that the hotel was not covered floor to ceiling in Edsonn's men. They were fully equipped in their combat gear and weaponry, which not unusual for most parts of Illium, but they made sure to arrive only a few minutes before her in hopes that they would not look suspicious while lingering in the area. T'Lees, however, would be wearing no armor and carrying only a pistol tucked away in her jacket. Had she not been a very capable biotic who had honed her barrier skills finely over the centuries, she would have been far more reluctant to walk into the situation so exposed.

The car's navigation alert pinged.

" _Arriving at Myria Hotel."_

She blinked and refocused her eye. The skycar was diving down toward a building no more than fifteen stories tall. Short by Illium's standards. She straightened her pants and jacket and reached in to grasp her pistol once more just to reassure herself that it was still there as the taxi settled down. She reached to the release handle and opened the overhead entry hatch before rising from her seat and stepping out in front of the hotel's wide double doors. The Myria Hotel was a very traditional but upscale place that catered toward the visitors that came to Nos Astra and did _not_ wish for the fact to be known. It was discrete, out of the way, and terribly lavish. Exactly what Edsonn would have chosen, she thought to herself.

T'Lees strode through the entrance and nodded a polite greeting to a pair of asari employees that stood on either side of the door. The lobby she found herself in was three stories in height with balconies lining the outer walls on the second and third floor. The ceiling was covered from end to end in a gorgeous mosaic that resembled the style from one of the early Thessian classical ages. Her eye did not linger on the sight, however, but made a quick sweep to see the familiar shape of Seelyn and Lognus standing by the concierge, waiting behind a few other guests. A warm comfort helped to settle her nervous stomach as she continued onward and took a left into the hotel lobby's bar and lounge. It was raised only a few steps off the ground floor with a clear and open view across the foyer, giving Seelyn and Lognus a clear line of sight no matter where she chose to sit. Another familiar face flashed by her eye: Ram sitting at the bar talking casually with a salarian patron, also dressed in combat gear. She had not seen Callon, though that was to be expected for now.

"Fayneer T'Lees," a voice spoke from her side.

She snapped her head to the right to see a male human, light in complexion with brownish-gold hair, standing beside a table with a grin from ear to ear. He wore a fine suit, as he always had, and reached up to slick his already immaculate hair into place just in the off chance an errant strand had broken from the mould. She was not always perfect in guessing human ages, but knowing William Hume had been twenty-seven years of age led her to believe Edsonn was in his mid to late forties.

"Richard Edsonn," she said smoothly in return.

She turned and strode up to join him beside the table.

"I am so glad you were willing to meet with me," T'Lees said with her long-practiced diplomatic smile.

He grasped her hand and nodded. "Of _course._ my dear."

She concealed her disgust as he leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her hand.

"My God, Fayneer," Edsonn said with a frown. "What happened to your beautiful face?"

"It _was_ quite beautiful, was it not?" She replied, humoring him.

He held up a hand in defense. "Don't get me wrong," he said quickly. "You are still as gorgeous as the last time I saw you, truly. But the eyepatch and scars are… deliciously exotic."

T'Lees gave him a fake chuckle and nodded toward the table. "Shall we sit?"

"After you," he nodded.

She slid into one of the chairs and sat up comfortably and straight as he came to sit across from her.

"A grenade, happened," she finally answered truthfully before embellishing. "When the commandos came for me after Antarian's network collapsed."

"Damn, they always pretend to be civilized right up until there's a gun to the side of your head," he said with a shake of his head. "But you do own it well. Quite well."

T'Lees nodded. "Thank you. But you know that is not why I asked you here."

"Hah, of course, of course. Would you like a drink?"

The asari brought her hands up to rest on the table and laced her fingers. "No, Edsonn. I would actually like to cut straight to business. Let us talk."


	4. Down to the Thieves Below - Chapter 4

**The Starheld Compendium - Down to the Thieves Below**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Fayneer T'Lees – 2179**

 _ **Nos Astra, Illium**_

Edsonn's relaxed sneer slowly sank into an irritated frown. "Business?" He smirked. "Fine. If you want to talk then talk."

T'Lees sat up straight. "You are a decent businessman, no?"

"Decent? I'm damn good," he snapped.

"Hmm." She smiled. "I will concede that point. But with that in mind you must know that I am _much_ better than you."

Edsonn opened his mouth to reply but held his tongue.

"I had the highest growth and profits in Antarian's organization by a wide margin, as I am sure you know," she continued.

"Yeah, yeah." Edsonn crossed his arms. "I wouldn't _be_ here if I didn't know you were a good at the game, T'Lees."

"Then you are intrigued by my offer?" The asari asked.

The man shifted in his seat.

 _This was almost too easy_ , T'Lees thought to herself.

She knew damn well that Edsonn had bought his way into Antarian's organization with reliable intelligence on the Alliance and barely scraped by with his own ventures. He was not a good businessman and never had been.

"A two hundred percent ROI in the first year seems almost too good to be true," he said bluntly.

"You are a smart man," she said, trying not to sound overly pandering. "That figure was… inflated to spark your interest. The figure is around one hundred and fifty-five percent."

He nodded. "Still good."

 _Of course it is_ , she thought. _Goddess, you are easier to manipulate than a copper wire._

"So you are interested?" T'Lees asked once again.

"Of course, if you have something to show for it," he answered.

She lifted her omnitool and tapped in a few messages. "I am forwarding you the basics. But you should know that I am also meeting with a number of potential investors here on Illium." T'Lees leaned forward. "If you want to be a part of this I would not hesitate on buying in. There is quite a sizable chunk of ownership up for grabs."

Edsonn lifted the holopad in front of him to give the documents a once over. He nodded slowly and agreeably at each major point.

"Interesting. Weapons manufacturing again, hm?" He asked.

"It is my forte," she replied smoothly.

Edsonn raised a brow. "These prototypes you plan to reverse-engineer… how did you obtain them?"

"I cannot expose all my secrets," T'Lees teased. "Not yet at least. I will say that they come from a number of informants and moles I have within the Armali Council's research and development team."

"Very interesting. And you've begun work on breaking down these prototypes already?"

"With my own portion of the funding, yes," she bluffed. "Your contribution, along with anyone who can invest quickly enough, will go toward the boring but essential items." She began counting off on her fingers. "Facilities, labor, materials, distribution, and so on."

"You have buyers lined up?" He asked.

T'Lees nodded. "Yes. I still have a number of connections there that are quite eager to do business with me again."

"What's the catch?" He finally asked.

The asari chuckled. "Edsonn, please. There is no catch. You know quite well I am an honorable businesswoman."

He grinned as his eyes flicked up. "You're a charmer, Fayneer. And a hell of a salesman."

She gave him a horribly fake smile. "You flatter me." She raised her chin. "Can I consider you my first official investor?"

Edsonn chuckled. "I've got the twenty million ready to go, but my volus needs to look over this proposal first. Shouldn't take him more than a few hours."

T'Lees kept her calm. "You have it ready? Here?"

"Not on a chit," he snorted. "Put it in a… special account for now." Edsonn raised his wrist to show her his omnitool bracelet.

"I see. And may I view the funds?" She inquired.

Edsonn smirked. "For a second I thought you weren't going to ask. Wasn't sure if it was really you."

"Please, I may have lost an eye but I have not lost my common sense," she mused.

He pulled down his sleeve and tapped the button to activate his omnitool. After a few quick taps on the holographic screen he held out his arm to show her the balance on an account sheet. She stared down the account for a long moment before looking up to Edsonn with a satisfactory nod.

"Well, that was not so bad at all, was it?" T'Lees smiled. "Who said business is difficult amongst friends?"

"Amen to that," he grinned. "I'll send this over to my guy. While he takes care of that we should take a look at that drink menu, eh?"

"Indeed," she replied.

Her omnitool chimed softly. She looked down nonchalantly to see a new message from Callon.

 _The account is good. I should be able to get access in the next few minutes and prep the transfer._

The tiny camera they had implanted in her eyepatch had captured everything Callon had needed from Edsonn's omnitool. For all she was concerned, this mission was already over. She paused for a moment and stared down at the table as Edsonn began reading through and narrating the lounge's drink menu.

 _Was the mission really over already?_ She asked herself. _It could not have been this easy, could it?_

"Ahh, twenty year," he noted. "Glass for both of us to celebrate the tentative deal?"

T'Lees blinked and looked up from the table. "Oh, yes. Yes, of course."

 _Perhaps it could be this easy._ T'Lees looked to the side. _Edsonn had always been easy for her to manipulate when necessary, but if he could be so easily swayed by anyone he would surely be broke by now._

"I'll be honest, I hadn't expected to hear from you after everything with Antarian went tits up," Edsonn remarked.

T'Lees snapped out of her thought. "Mm, well, I always bounce back."

"So it seems," he said with a wink. "Even heard rumors that you were dead or arrested by… someone."

"Rumors?" She asked curiously.

"Just from a few other people we used to work with," he said with a shrug.

The waitress appeared and set two wine glasses down on the table. She presented the bottle to Edsonn, who nodded in satisfaction, before lifting each of the glasses and gently pouring them a generous portion of wine. Edsonn grabbed his and set the glass under his nose as he took in the aroma of the liquid therein.

"Smells good," he said, clearly happy with his choice.

T'Lees reached to take the other glass in her hand when her omnitool chimed. She accepted the message and activated the screen to see an alert from Seelyn that had been sent out to the entire team.

 _We may have trouble._

T'Lees kept her concern completely hidden from Edsonn as she transferred the glass to her opposite hand and took a small sip. A message from Ram followed up immediately afterward.

 _What kind of trouble?_

Before anyone could reply T'Lees glanced over her shoulder to see half a dozen asari clad in black commando armor filing into the lobby. She snapped her head back to the table and raised her omnitool.

"Everyone converge on me." She ordered into the mic.

T'Lees looked up to see Edsonn eying her with the ghost of a satisfied smile on his lips. She snarled and leaned forward to point an accusatory finger.

"You son of a bitch!" She snapped, trying to keep her voice down. "Why?"

"Last thing I want is you getting back into the game," he remarked. "Even if this investment worked out it would only be empowering you to challenge my markets in the future."

Ram, Seelyn and Lognus hurried up the steps into the lounge as T'Lees rose from her seat and looked back to the lobby. The commandos had spotted her and the team and were entering combat stances.

"We need to get out of here," T'Lees said as they approached.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Ram agreed. "Come out, out the back."

T'Lees looked down to Edsonn and snarled. "Damn you!"

He shrugged and took another sip of his wine as T'Lees and the others began to dart through rows of tables. Half way across the lounge, however, the door at the far end of the room pinged and slid open to allow another four commandos to come storming into the room. T'Lees cursed and turned back to see the first group was already stepping into the lounge from the main entrance.

"Don't take another fucking step," shouted the commando's leader.

The few patrons still left in the lounge screamed and ran toward the exits. Surprisingly, the commandos let them by without a second glance. It seemed they knew exactly who they were after. The bartender turned and darted through the swinging kitchen door behind the bar, leaving the lounge empty save for the commandos, T'Lees and her mercenaries, and Edsonn.

"Shit," Seelyn growled. "This is bad, very bad…"

"Where is Callon?" T'Lees asked.

"Security room, probably," Lognus replied. "That's where Ram sent him."

"Weapons up," Ram ordered.

He grabbed his sidearm and held it out to T'Lees. She took the pistol as she and the others brought their weapons to bear. The commandos ducked into cover while their squad leader lowered her rifle and shook her head.

"Really, T'Lees?" Her voice was familiar. "You can't get out of this one. You don't have a Spectre here to bail you out this time."

"Captain Lintarith," T'Lees called in return after putting a name to the voice. "I am flattered that you came all this way just for me."

"Can it," Lintarith said with a thick air of loathing.

"Glad to see someone is putting her in her place," Edsonn chuckled as he sipped his wine, still sitting at their table.

Lintarith turned her attention to the man sitting in the center of the room. "Ah, yes. Edsonn, thank you for your cooperation in all of this." She chuckled. "I'm sure that'll help with your plea bargain. Zaera, secure him."

Edsonn jumped up from his chair, spilling his wine to the floor. "What? We had an agreement!"

"And I altered it," Lintarith remarked. "Two crime bosses in one op? Damn good numbers by my book."

Two of the asari commandos from the first squad began to move forward with their weapons trained on Edsonn's position.

"We had a deal!"

"Don't you fucking move!" Lintarith growled.

He turned and ran toward where T'Lees and the others stood near the bar. As he approached them T'Lees narrowed her eye and hit him square across the jaw with the bottom of her pistol grip, sending him stumbling back.

"Disobeying my orders is not how you get on my good side," Lintarith yelled. "T'Lees, drop your damned weapon! The others, too!"

T'Lees glanced around the small group. Ram stood at her side, holding his rifle toward Lintarith and her three commandos. Seelyn and Lognus did the same, but held their weapons on the six commandos that had stopped near the lounge's main entrance. Edsonn slowly rose to his feet to stand at their side, cradling his bloodied chin. T'Lees let her eye flutter shut for a brief second as she concentrated on bolstering her biotic barrier.

"I said drop it!" Lintarith repeated. "I'm not saying it again!"

"I'm not going to prison," Seelyn muttered.

"Neither am I," Ram added.

"My wanted record is longer than this place's wine list," Lognus growled.

Seelyn took a deep breath. "Can we… can we take them?"

"Not sure," Ram answered. "They outnumber us three to one. And they're fucking commandos."

"I can cut that number in half," Seelyn remarked as she turned her palm over to reveal the detonator in her hand.

"Drop your weapons!" Lintarith shouted as she raised her own.

"Do it," T'Lees ordered.

An explosion ripped through the entrance of the lounge, throwing three of the commandos at the entrance into the air and the others down to the ground. Gunfire erupted immediately as Ram and Lognus flipped tables forward and dove behind them for cover. T'Lees winced as her barriers were impacted with shot after shot, almost giving way until she jumped down next to Ram. Something came slamming to the ground next to her with a heavy thump. She snapped her eye toward the noise to see Edsonn laying face-down on the floor, bleeding from an errant gunshot wound to the head. She reached her arm out from cover to rip his omnitool bracelet from his wrist and tuck it into her pocket.

"We can't hold them for long!" Lognus bellowed.

"Follow me!" T'Lees shouted. "Into the kitchen!"

She closed her eyes and concentrated once again on bolstering her barrier before jumping up and turning to sprint the few meters to the bar. T'Lees jumped up and over, knocking drinks to the ground before crashing down to the floor on the other side. The others came jumping over shortly after. A biotic throw caught Ram as he made the jump, throwing him into the shelves that lined the back of the bar to send thousands of credits of liquor crashing to the ground. Lognus and Seelyn jumped up to continue spraying covering fire as T'Lees crawled along the floor to where Ram had landed. He slowly pushed himself up and shook his head.

"Fucking hell that hurt!"

"Biotics often do!" T'Lees remarked. "Come, everyone! Into the kitchen!"

She jumped up and fired off a few shots from her pistol as she ran down the length of the bar toward the swinging doors at the far end. Seelyn, Lognus and Ram followed, all spraying their weapons at the converging commandos as they strafed toward safety. T'Lees jumped through the doors into the large kitchen and stood just behind the wall as she fired back to cover their retreat. Ram made it through first, followed by Seelyn, but just as Lognus turned to head through a biotic singularity ruptured the space where he stood. T'Lees jumped back instinctively, barely avoiding the biotic attack.

"Log!" Seelyn shouted as she turned and ran back toward him.

T'Lees grabbed her arm. "No!"

Another biotic attack struck the batarian, warping the singularity and throwing Lognus down to the ground with a sickening crunch. His body was twisted from the detonation, leaving him stiff and motionless.

"Lognus!" Ram shouted. " _Damn it_ all!"

"No, no!" Seelyn shouted as she backpedaled.

"We must _leave!"_ T'Lees begged as she turned and ran.

They weaved through prep stations and industrial cooking equipment toward a door near the far end of the room marked with the image of a stairwell. One by one the commandos began to file into the room behind them. Bullets shattered the wall paneling around them as she reached the door, only to find it locked.

"Callon!" Ram called into their comms. "Callon, do you hear me?"

The three of them turned and took cover behind a set of stoves before returning fire. The influx of gunfire sent the commandos into cover as well, temporarily halting their advance.

" _I hear you,"_ the drell replied calmly. " _I'm watching from the security center, trying to unlock that door for you."_

"Hurry, damn it!" Ram snarled.

A biotic warp struck Ram just before he could kneel down behind cover, sending him stumbling back into the wall. He fell to the ground but somehow shook off the disorientation and pain before taking up position behind the stove a few seconds later.

"I hate these bloody biotics!" He yelled.

Seelyn laughed happily as one of her shots pierced a commando's helmet, dropping her to the ground. "T'Lees, do some biotic shit back at them!"

T'Lees fired her pistol until it hissed from overheating. "If I do that I will not be able to concentrate on my barrier," she answered in a shout to break through the gunfire. "In case you had not noticed I am not exactly wearing military-grade armor!"

" _There! The door's open!"_ Callon called.

"You're a saint, Cal!" Seelyn gasped. "Come on!"

She jumped up and ran for the door as T'Lees and Ram turned to follow. However, just before she could reach the stairwell a lift struck the turian in the center of her mass, tossing her up to the ceiling.

Ram yelled in anguish. "Claws!"

The commandos concentrated their fire on the turian as she tumbled to the ground. She slumped against the wall beside the door, bleeding from the numerous bullet holes in her torso. T'Lees grimaced and turned her eye away as she rolled through the door and looked back to see Ram slide to the ground beside his fallen comrade.

"Ram!" She shouted.

The commandos peppered him with bullets as he roared in anger and grabbed Seelyn's bloodied rifle before scrambling toward the door. His shields flashed and failed, allowing a burst of bullets to rip into his leg. One or two managed to puncture his armor, sending blood spraying to the floor as he dove through the doorway and into the stairwell. T'Lees reached up and slammed her fist onto the door's control panel to lock it.

"They will break through," she said immediately.

Ram pulled off his helmet and mumbled incoherently as he rolled into a sitting position and applied a dose of medi-gel to his leg wound.

" _They're approaching the door,"_ Callon chimed in solemnly. " _It is locked but they will most likely separate it from the security grid and force it open within a minute or two."_

T'Lees glanced over to Seelyn's rifle as it lay beside Ram. She gritted her teeth and closed her eye to stave off a wave of grief as she reached up to wipe the moisture that had welled up beneath her eyelid.

"Goddess," she mumbled while opening her eye. "Ram, I am so sorry."

He winced and shook his head. "Don't… don't be sorry. Couldn't have seen this coming."

"Of course we could have," she rebutted. "We discussed this ourselves! But we thought we could stand against anything Edsonn might have up his sleeve. Damn it. _Damn it!_ "

"We didn't consider him luring a dozen commandos onto us, did we?"

"I did not expect him to be stupid enough to try to broker a deal with Thessian Special Services," she lamented.

Ram growled as he prepped another dose of medi-gel. "Damn leg won't stop bleeding."

Blood poured from his thigh and onto the ground beneath him and T'Lees.

" _I don't mean to rush things, but they're try to hack the door now,"_ Callon said. " _You should probably start moving."_

"If this fucking leg would stop bleeding," Ram snapped angrily.

"Ram, we must move," T'Lees said as she stood.

His blood had soaked and stained her pants and the fringes of her jacket. She held out a hand to the human who took it and attempted to pull himself to his feet. He shook his head and came falling back to the floor.

"My head," he muttered. "I'm just too…" Ram clutched his leg and paused as a realization settled over him. "Femoral artery," he deduced. "I'll be gone in... five minutes at the most."

T'Lees swallowed hard and shook her head in denial. "No, Ram, no, we can make it out-"

"Stop wasting time and run," he barked. "I'll try to buy you some time."

Ram slid to the wall facing the door and propped himself up. T'Lees did not try to deter her tears now as she dropped down to her knee and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ram…"

"You're still wasting time," he told her. "Go on."

He grabbed his rifle in one hand and picked up Seelyn's in the other, aiming them both toward the door.

T'Lees leaned forward and pressed tear-dampened lips to his forehead. "Thank you, Brandte."

Ram's eyes looked up just long enough to give her a nod before returning to the door.

" _They've got it!"_ Callon shouted.

T'Lees turned and ran to the stairs. The lower stairwell was accompanied by a sign reading "No Exit," and so she took those leading upward. Around the fourth flight up a roar of gunfire echoed from down below, lasting for about ten seconds before coming to an abrupt stop. She closed her eye and paused for just a moment until the thundering sounds of boots on the stairs below kicked her back into action. She climbed just over a dozen floors of stairs before finally coming to a landing that led to a door reading "Roof Maintenance Access." The door unlocked, opening into a dark room full of machinery and maintenance equipment. Pipes and wires weaved their way across the ceilings and walls, while dozens of heavy metal contraptions that resembled generators lay scattered throughout. On the far side of the room was a short set of the stairs leading to a door that could only open to the roof, and seeing no other options for escape, T'Lees trudged onward.

A few meters from the stairs the door opened behind her. "Stop!"

Lintarith's voice cut clean through the noise of the machinery. T'Lees spun on her feet and began firing blindly as she backpedaled up the stairs toward the door. Lintarith fired in return. Somewhere in the crossfire a pipe on the ceiling was punctured, sending oil spraying out onto Lintarith and another commando that was just catching up. With her visor obstructed, Lintarith ripped off her helmet and charged forward as T'Lees let out a weak biotic throw to send her stumbling back. T'Lees fired off a few more shots into the ceiling and, as she had hoped, pierced one of the bundles of cables to send sparks raining down into the room. She turned and ran for the door as the sound of fire erupted in the oil that had begun collecting on the floor.

T'Lees burst from the door into the blinding sunlight and stumbled out onto the roof of the hotel. Tall building surrounded her on all sides, including one close enough that could be reached if she used her biotics to dampen her fall and glide across the gap. That would, of course, leave her defenseless as she could not possibly sustain her barriers at the same time. She looked over her shoulder once before stepping up onto the edge of the roof and leaping forward with a mighty grunt. Blue and purple biotic energy flared around her as she floated over the street some fifteen stories below. She raised her gun and fired off a few shots into the approaching window, shattering it and presenting a landing spot in what looked like an office.

Somewhere behind her she heard a shout. "Raaah!"

She had just enough time to look back over her shoulder to see Lintarith leap off of the building behind her. But instead of igniting her biotics to slow her fall, the commando captain blurred into a ball of energy and _charged_ toward her. T'Lees gasped and braced herself for the impact, her biotics retracting into a barrier just before the commando slammed into her and brought them both through the broken window and smashing into the floor of the office. Disoriented and in severe pain, T'Lees rolled to her feet and stumbled back with her pistol drawn toward the asari commando.

Lintarith righted herself. With her helmet gone and a clear burn from the fire on her torso armor she stared T'Lees down with an animal-like ferocity.

"I do not want to hurt you," T'Lees pleaded. "Half of the crimes you have accused me of are false, the others-"

"Are still crimes!" Lintarith growled as she raised her gun. "You're a fucking criminal and a murderer."

"That... that is not-" She shook her head. "I am not a bad-"

"Listen to yourself," Lintarith said, her voice dripping with venom. "Are you honestly this deluded? You think you're somehow undeserving of punishment for the things you've done? Or that you're somehow _innocent?_ " She scoffed. "Somehow, I don't know which is worse." The commando captain shook her head in disgust. "You're a disgrace to every fucking asari on Thessia."

"Please," T'Lees said again quietly. "I do not want to hurt you."

Lintarith took aim. "Well I do."

T'Lees covered her eye and whipped her hand up. A biotic throw blasted forth and tossed Lintarith back toward a support column which she impacted with a heavy thud. Fully expecting a retaliatory attack, T'Lees attempted to bolster her barrier. A pain drove through her mind and body as it fought back from the strain of her repeated biotic exertion. She gasped and opened her eye to see the commando unleash death upon her.

"Goddess," she gasped.

Lintarith lay motionless in front of the column, her neck twisted unnaturally and broken. T'Lees stumbled backward and activated the comms on her omnitool.

"Callon, are you safe?" She rasped.

" _How in… you're alive?"_ He replied.

A pain tore at her heart. It wasn't physical, but something equally as debilitating. She turned and looked for a door.

"Barely. I need a way out of this building."

" _Get to the roof. I just got out of the hotel, but I'll get a skycar and come to pick you up."_

She took a deep breath and tucked Ram's pistol into her jacket. "I am on my way."

* * *

T'Lees and Callon sat silently in the passenger compartment of the cheap transport vessel they had chartered for their ride off of Illium. Callon typed away at a holopad while T'Lees simply stared at the deck with her face in her hands. Lintarith's words clawed at her. Was she really delusional? Had she merely proven it by killing Lintarith? It had not been intentional, or so she told herself, but what about all the others?

"It was not supposed to end like that," she mumbled. "How did-"

"Shit happens," Callon answered quietly. "Seen more than a handful of setups like this. Some of them turn out okay, but most of the time… well, this happens."

"They did nothing wrong," she lamented. "They were only there to help me."

 _Help me steal._ Said a haunting reminder in the back of her head.

Callon chuckled ruefully. "They've done plenty wrong. Just like I have and I'm sure you're no angel either. There's a reason they were willing to take on a damned commando squad to avoid getting caught and investigated."

Seeing that his words were of little consolation, Callon sighed and crossed his arms.

"You can't be upset that it finally came back around on us. You just have to appreciate that we made it out."

"I know that," T'Lees snapped. "I am hundreds of years old, and I have been in this business for many centuries. I cannot remember all those who have died fighting my battles." She looked up to the drell. "But most of the time I do not know them well enough to feel this much grief when they are gone."

Callon smirked. "Warlords aren't supposed to feel empathy for their grunts, you know."

"Then I suppose I am a terrible crime lord," she replied.

 _Goddess. Is that all I am? Selfish, semi-conscientious, very lucky thug?_ The thought nibbled at her until she bared her teeth and forced it into the back of her mind.

The drell set the omnitool down on the table between them. "Does this make things better?"

T'Lees looked down and read over the account summary. "You got it all?"

"Most of it," he answered. "The fact that you snagged Edsonn's omnitool made things easier. I'll funnel it through a few more accounts before transferring it to wherever you want it."

"I owe you far more than what I promised," she admitted.

"I'm already taking the cuts that would have gone to Ram, Seelyn and Lognus," he informed her.

"Even so," she said. "You could have simply left me and the others to die after everything fell apart."

"So… double it?"

T'Lees gave him a small smile. "Please."

 _This doesn't make you a good person._ She clenched a fist and suppressed the thought once again.

"Won't argue with that," Callon remarked. "So what now?"

"I will have to find a new place to establish my business," T'Lees said with a sigh. "Invictus is at the top of my list. And you?"

"With this much in the bank I doubt I'll need to work for a while," Callon laughed. "If ever again."

"If you ever get the urge, I could find you a place in my organization," T'Lees offered.

The drell leaned back. "I'm not really a 'steady job' kind of guy."

"Perhaps contract work, then," she suggested. "I am sure I will have a variety of options available."

"Alright, I'll think about it."

She looked down at the account summary again.

 _Was it worth it?_

"Good. But for now, we should rest." T'Lees closed her eye. "We always have tomorrow to worry about details."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

That's the end for this little story. I'm aiming to write one of these every other month or two. Hope you enjoyed it!


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